Tom Lüthi (7th) on the third row in Germany
It was a bit of a lottery. Or, rather, a game of hide and seek with the clouds and rain showers. The qualifying session for the Moto2 German Grand Prix, on the circuit of Sachsenring, took place in very tricky conditions. It started on a drying track before heavy rain reappeared, then the second half was quieter and all about assessing grip. Drops of rain appeared again at the end of the session, although it was at that time when some riders managed to do their fastest lap times of the newly-resurfaced German circuit. Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten) finished in 7th position and will start the ninth round of the 2017 World Championship, on Sunday at 12:20 CET, from the third row of the starting grid. Unlike this morning, Jesko Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten) struggled again in the afternoon. He qualified 26th, four positions ahead of his Spanish team mate Iker Lecuona. And what were the impressions of Frédéric Corminboeuf, the boss of CGBM Evolution, the company that aligns the two Swiss teams on the Moto2 grid? “Tom could have been on the front row. This result does not reflect the amount of work that our rider and his team have done at all. We only had one problem and that was in sector 3 and I am sure that tomorrow it will be forgotten. Tom has a very strong pace, we know how good his starts are and the race is still looking promising. The other two riders of our team were side-lined today; Jesko wasn’t there when the track conditions were the best and Iker made a rookie error when he decided to make a pit stop on his fastest lap, which could have put him in the Top 15. Then, aware of his mistake, he got too tense and everyone knows that riding in the wet requires the rider to be completely relaxed. I am disappointed and our two Garage Plus Interwetten riders need to wake up tomorrow!”
He said…
Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten, 7th):
“It may seem strange but it is the truth: today our position does not reflect our performance. I was in the front the whole time, in the wet and dry conditions but I lost many positions at the end due to a problem in one of the sectors of the circuit. I was watching the MotoGP qualifying carefully and I was surprised to see how good the grip was in the wet. We just had to see if that would be the case with our tyres as well. I went with the “total rain” option to kick start the game and I really enjoyed myself. Of course it was sliding and I was on the limit but I was in control. A third row start is not a complete disaster, the race is tomorrow and we haven’t lost it yet!”
Sachsenring (Germany). German GP Moto2, qualifying: 1. Morbidelli (ITA, Kalex), 1’32.159 (143.300 km/h); 2. A. Marquez (SPA, Kalex), +0.253; 3. Cortese (GER, Suter), +0.377; 4. Pasini (ITA, Kalex), +0.519; 5. Garzo (SPA, Tech 3), +0.588; 6. Oliveira (POR, KTM), +0.642; 7. Lüthi (SWI, Kalex, carXpert Interwetten), +0.672; 8. Corsi (ITA, Speed Up), +0.915; 9. Quartararo (FRA, Kalex), +1.035; 10. Bagnaia (ITA, Kalex), +1.154. Then: 17. Aegerter (SWI, Suter), +1.749; 26. Raffin (SWI, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), +2.869; 30. Lecuona (SPA, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), +4.611. 31 classified.
